Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Rthomas, Aug 27, 2017.

  1. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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  2. Jackork

    Jackork Acquaintance

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    If they manage to achive R70x tonality but with better tech, then this could be a blast.
     
  3. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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  4. GTABeancounter

    GTABeancounter Friend

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    Not much surface area on that headband. I have a hard time seeing how they could be comfortable for longer listening sessions. Anxious to hear impressions of sound and comfort/clamp.
     
  5. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Agreed. AT has always had terrible comfort in the headbands. Wings come to mind. One of the many reasons I haven't tried many of their products. It doesn't even look like you could slap a pilot pad on those as a fix.

    I hope they sound good. They look nice.
     
  6. sacredgates

    sacredgates Audio-Technica's high priest

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    For me AT´s wing headband has been working perfectly well. I like not to have any pressue at all on the very top of my head. Don´t want to disagree with the consens on this, but there also is people here and there for whom it works just fine...
    Don´t know about the ATH-ADX5000 headband though... will wait for others to try this new "adventure" first...
    I read somewhere the headphones are supposed to be extremely lightweight, which might help.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2017
  7. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    For me too! Since moving on to my HD600s, wings is the thing that I miss the most. So good I almost flew. Or at least, levitated a couple of times.

    I guess it is one of those things that works for an individual or not and I also can't understand what the problem is with HD6nn clamp. Even more than sound, people have to try the physical comfort thing for themselves.

    But I don't think that light-on-the-head ATs would be good for any desk-side head banger, whatever their sensitivities: The ATs would fly: across the room.

    Which is a long-winded way of saying: Oh, no wings? What a shame!
     
  8. JoeBinx

    JoeBinx New

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    I've always enjoyed the ATH Wing's as well, even my big heavy W1000X felt like they floated on my head it was wonderful! Either way, here's to hoping some one will hae some real impressions. The only word so far is it's like the HE1 with it's sense of relaxed sound stage and real sounding metal instruments, but that's a vague shot in the dark...

     
  9. PeteMullersKeyboard

    PeteMullersKeyboard New

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    Just happened to stumble across an article about these, then went looking for more info, someone who doesn't speak English very well at HF claims to have heard them and compared them to the HE-1...for whatever that's worth, who the hell knows.

    Very interested to see how these turn out, would love to have a smooth-but-open sounding pair of dynamics, HD700s are fun but my god do they get fatiguing.
     
  10. MuppetFace

    MuppetFace Sultana of Seafoam Green - Moderator

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    I've been waiting for a new flagship from Audio-Technica, especially since Sony has stepped back into the arena with their similarly priced Z1R.

    The W5000 was one of my first dynamic headphones, and there are a lot of nostalgic feels looking at the case for these. I have a lot of fond memories of AT's various wood, metal, and open "AIR" models. Even if most of them had a rather ~strange~ tonality, there was something addictive about them.

    My guess is that these will retain a typical AT house sound of lighter bass / quality midrange with female vocal emphasis / bright---hopefully not too much so---highs.

    As for the design, I'm really fond of this one; it's a nice mix of professional looks and high-end luxury elements. The headband actually looks quite comfortable, as the split down the middle should alleviate some of the fatigue that comes with a band pushing down in one spot. Other manufacturers have done the split thing, but this is one of the few that looks wide enough to benefit, similar to the headband on the Sony Qualia, albeit less fragile.

    Now if AT would just revisit their leather clad earcup idea...
     
  11. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    420 ohms means OTL amps are a good option.

    Off-topic:

    The quote from the Verge article though is frustrating because you don't need a "powerful amplifier" for high impedance. HD 6XX type headphones are typically in the milliwatts. Speakers at 4 ohms need more power then 8 ohms.

    But I get it, higher impedance needs higher voltage which is usually in high power amps.
     
  12. TheIceman93

    TheIceman93 El pato-zorro

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    I actually really liked the wing system on my R70x when I had them. Still the most comfortable open back I have owned.

    This new can looks interesting but it's way overpriced. They could build this in their Taiwan factory, lose the stupid case and sell it for $1k if they wanted but they are just engaging in the stupid price wars that are ruining the headphone market. Every company is engaging in it. Only Massdrop is giving you more for less.
     
  13. starence

    starence Facebook Friend

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    Unfortunately, many people seem to believe if a headphone is $2000+, then it must sound better than one that goes for $1000. As long as that attitude persists, we'll continue to see products with unaccountably high price tags.
     
  14. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Or even a fraction of that.

    I enjoyed my AD900s a lot. My first taste of real headphone. It was but human frailty to imagine that heading uprange would bring aural gratification. Reviewers suggested that, if maybe not the best, the 900s represented the sweet spot for value over the range. I wonder where the AT sweet spot is now.
     
  15. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    I want to get a loaner for this so I reached out to my PR contact in ATH, he encouraged me to check back with him in a few weeks after the RMAF 2017. So until then I'd like to gather an interest list so in a few weeks I can present a more realistic idea of the interest of within the community and try to get a product in hand to get some impressions as well as start an official ATH backed tour.

    If you guys would like please fill out this form!

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...p3xHRKLaQKwI2SFELbH5jhYg/viewform?usp=sf_link

    That will be easier than individually PM'ing me since I can dump all the responses into a spread sheet.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2017
  16. %20 Oddity

    %20 Oddity Friend

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    After testing them for a not long enough time and really wishing they were mine:
    They're good! Probably the best new headphones I listened to. Basically somehow they took all the great qualities of the Plastic Estat Sound™ and somehow put them in dynamic headphones. Replicated the wow factor I had when I trudged through snow to have my first Stax experience. Bright, but not enough to be tiring during the time I had with them. Super detailed.
    Love em.
     
  17. sacredgates

    sacredgates Audio-Technica's high priest

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    Had a listen to these on the XFI show in Holland already a while back.
    Too bright for me... yes these are light footed, pretty fast and detailed... yes also I had to think of Stax. Less funky FR as some other previous flagship AT´s. I preferred the ATH-W1000 (x or z) tonally more, even though it was much less "technically" proficient. And everybody who happened to be at the Audio Technica boot when I was there preferred -out of all AT headphones present- my heavily modded (see AT woodies thread) ATH-W3000anv = less technical-less analytical-slower-more musical-more bass-more body-more warmth.
    If your likings go more direction HD800 or SR009 these might be worth checking out. Comfort is good + very lightweight.
    I went to check these out as I was considering these as my new open headphones, but I decided to go for the ZMF Auteur instead (they will bring more weight to the music and to my head ;)).
    Amplifier was Audio Technica´s own hybrid AT-H5050H reference amplifier. Not great value with that price, sure, but a beautiful "classic" sound not putting a foot wrong.
    Would be nice to hear some impressions of these new 420 Ohm headphones combined with a good OTL tube amplifier (synergy).
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2017
  18. taisserroots

    taisserroots Friend

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    I'm grateful for the people at audio sanctuary for letting me demo these headphones. I know a thanks is meaningless when my wallet should do the talking as they are a business.

    I got to try these running off of the Dave and with the skull amp at audio sanctuary, alongside a lot of other totl headphones.
    I feel like these compare most closely with the hd800 and to some extent the hek v1

    I don't really have set music tastes. Quite recently drake, Charlotte Cardin and Amy Winehouse have been the artist's I have listened to the most.

    Starting with comfort.
    These are on the comfortable light side of the spectrum. Anyone who knows me from discord knows that I am really sensitive to weight and clamp, to the extent that I find the utopia uncomfortable after a few minutes. This doesn't feel as rigid as the hd800 on my head but clamps a bit more and sort of dissapears like my hd580 does.

    Moving on to sound.
    Bass
    The bass levels aren't much higher than the hd800, if at all. It feels more punchier and more dynamic, and sometimes there is some minor bloat relative to the hd 800. It doesn't have the same level texture but matches a greater variety of genre, simply by having a greater sense of impact. This isn't a warm can by any means and at times can feel anaemic due to the lack of depth. Anyone who had visited a concert or been around drummers should know how a kickdrum feels, while in recordings some mastering is at play, neither truely convey the impact of something like that.

    The mids are where the ad5000x really shine. I'm particularly sensitive to mid tone so it won't come as a surprise that the stuffiness of the hd800 really coloured the tone. While the texture came through on it, it sounded really stuffy, as if there was no presence. The ad5000x isn't really weebfi by any means. The upper mids relative to lower mids is more balanced, I'd go as far as saying the upper mids aren't as bumped in fr as the er4sr Charlotte Cardin's main girl (stripped) and Amy Winehouse's back to black both highlight the raw meatiness of the artist's vocals without getting shouty. It conveys this in a way which doesn't sound smoothed over in a very Romantic sweet way.
    While the upper mids can seem slightly emphasised compared to my hd580 it's so slight that I had to keep switching between them to notice the extra presence. The extra texture made it quite hard to discern because it didn't have the same overall relaxed balance as the 580. The mid timbre and tone between the two are different, but it's quite a subtle difference, just not something you have to work on to figure out. Pianos and accoustic guitars came through really well with an accurate tone. You had a sense of the individual strums and the air being pushed, overall there was a lot of resolution in terms of texture being conveyed. Aggressive pianos conveyed that sense of aggression with no attempt to hide the nastier parts of the sound. It allows a significant amount of character to be added to each instrument, as you would. Brass instruments have the raspiness that you get(why I never liked the trumpet), strings resonate in the space and have the edge that they do when pushed. These doesn't smooth over detail, which makes it quite unforgiving with poorly mastered songs and anything using instruments which are used aggressively which might not play into others tastes. It does add character to instruments, which for people like me, makes me more involved in the sound.

    The lower treble provides a good amount of air which is similar to that of the hd800. It doesn't feel closed in despite it's smaller stage and because of that sounds seem to exist within a space and decay into the space. The issue with the hd800 is that the air highlights the stuffy mids by isolating them in space.
    In this particular instance I don't get it, but the lower treble of either doesn't bother me, like the x2 did, or the hs1551. Both convey some form of sibilance in sibilant songs, but the air allows it to dissipate. The nature of the sibilance in both is quite different. The hd800 seems more subdued and dulled as opposed to veiled. The adx5000 has more sustain and more body making it a tiny bit more prominent, but the timbre of it is different. Which sibilance is natural is beyond me, I prefer the adx5000 here due to preference, I can't say which is technically better in this regard, only that they portray it differently. Neither has painful sibilance which bleeds into the rest of the sound, it's just there.
    In terms of mid treble and it's integration with lower treble, the headphone works really well.
    The cymbals have a TISHHhhhh sound as oppose to the TUSHH of the clear or the TISSsss of the he100v1. Treble is conveyed accurately with a good timbre. One thing to note is that these headphones will spit glare at you when dealing with glarey treble in the mix because of this, they're definitely unforgiving
    I personally believe that technically superior unforgiving headphones still sound better than low quality ones on a poorly mastered songs, other people will focus on this more.
    I should mention most of my listening is focused around the mids, I'm not a treble head, so the treble glare isn't particularly annoying to me.
    Coming back to the mid treble I can't help but feel it is ever so slightly veiled in comparison to the hd800, despite the resolution and accuracy. The treble of neither bothers me too much, so the veil hasn't meant that I think the glare is worse than it is, since both of these headphones do that.

    Being an idiot I mentioned air in the lower treble part, when it's upper treble. I'm not bothered to redo the structure of this so I'll carry on. Both are quite airy headphones. But the hd800 is superior in this sense. It conveys a greater sense of air which makes sounds seem more in place than the adx5000 at times. It's quite a stark difference. Both are more airy than the focals and to some extent the he1000v1 can sit in between the two.

    Presentation is slightly different on the two. The adx5000 had more body to the sound, it was quite noticeable. However it was far from the utopias which is the king of headphones in this regard. It maybe had more body than the he1000v1 but don't quote me on that. Nevertheless, it is still thin, lacks impact and dynamics.

    In terms of staging they are quite different. The adx5000 has a smaller soundstage and is therefore quite closer. I believe it's equal in width to the hekv1. In addition to the body it creates a more intimate sound. The level of seperation and imaging created a good stage in which instruments and vocals came from different places with a good amount of depth to seem convincing. The sounds didn't seem rounded at the source and neither did they seem to dissipate all over the stage and smother it. The good level of clarity added to this stage. But these stages were quite close and at times sounds could come 70° off from in front of you. It's disorientating and at times annoying.

    This doesn't do the same thing the hd800 does with staging. The closest thing to the hd800 was the kuru da, but I believe that is a technically worse, thinner and a less enjoyable headphone. While I initially thought there was a limit on how close the sounds on the hd800 are from you. It was quite clear that this is a result of the staging properties in general. It is an out of your head kind of sound, the stage is in front of you, not a metre a way but closer to what you get at a performance. On that stage there is a great amount of depth, it expands far and not at weird extremities to you. Because of this the superior imaging and seperation, alongside the air provides the most accurate sense of stage you could probably get in a headphone. It's quite unique and hard to describe. To some it can feel diffuse (kind of me), but for people who enjoy this, the staging capacity of this headphone is unmatched and the adx5000 doesn't touch this whatsoever. It's staging is more typical to a headphone.

    In conclusion I prefer the adx5000, I like the extra body and more accurate mid tone, as those are my preferences. I feel as though this tuning allows it to resolve slightly better than the hd800 by conveying a greater sense of texture.
    The hd800 on the other hand has it's unique staging akin to speakers. It's the thickest sounding of this kind of headphone and I feel as though the tuning aids it's sense of staging.
    Both are analytical and unforgiving headphones with accurate treble and a thin sound, but that's as far as the similarities go.

    Sorry for the wall of text.
     
  19. Erikdayo

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    I've had the ADX5000 for 5 days now and have been using it with the RME ADI-2 DAC (NOS filter, crossfeed 1) and have primarily compared it with the ZMF Auteur during that time. While I do think it could pair better with a high end tube amp that isn't something I plan on pursuing at this time.

    My initial reaction to the ADX5000 was that it was solid but that I did not prefer it over the Auteur. The ADX5000 is noticeably brighter. It causes sibilance to be emphasized more. Some of that sibilance already bothers me on the Auteur, but the ADX5000 makes bad things stick out a lot more on mediocre recordings. Sometimes things that did not previously bother me. I recall this sort of sensation with the HD800 and HD800S. In addition, I have noticed a few songs where the ADX5000 appears to create issues out of thin air. Parts that sound perfectly fine on my Auteur, HD650, and SE535. Maybe that's 'detail'. Maybe that is excessive treble. The ADX5000 can cause me to focus on issues with recordings rather than enjoying the music.

    I put it up for sale. It wasn't the right kind of headphone for me.

    There was no interest from buyers for a few days so I gave it another try. I started trying the right kinds of songs for the ADX5000 this time. One song in particular that really stood out was 'Apparition' by Rx Bandits. I noticed how punchy the ADX5000 sounded compared to my Auteur.

    The ADX5000 sounds incredibly quick and tight. It has this special punch I haven't heard from any other headphone. This doesn't excuse the sibilance issues. I've learned not to dwell on that aspect of the headphone. I can appreciate it for what it is. This headphone will not work with my entire library without issues. I highly recommend having a side headphone if you decide make the ADX5000 your main beauty. You need something to fall back on when you find some of your favorite music turning a bit uglier than you remember. But when the ADX5000 works it really works.

    The soundstage on this headphone isn't particularly large and having used the AD2000 and AD2000X extensively in the past it's about what I expected. Pretty good depth. Side to side it's on the narrower end of the spectrum for an open can. If you feel your movies, games, or certain genres of music demand a wide soundstage you likely will not be happy with the ADX5000 for those things.

    I feel the ADX5000 retains some of the A-T house sound while being cleaner and more refined than past efforts. The mids remain a focal point, and I love that.

    My ears still rest against the baffles somewhat on the ADX5000. It's not nearly as annoying as previous models. Getting used to the AD2000 years ago actually made my ears a little sore at times. No such issues here.The new headband feels great, or maybe it doesn't feel at all. I don't really notice anything on top of my head much like the old wing system A-Ts. A lot of people appeared to have fit issues with the wing system. Audio-Technica has finally solved that. The clamp seems just right to me. On the tighter side without being too tight even on my big head. The earpads feel great. Please note that much like the AD2000 the earpads may partly rest on your ears if they are on the larger side. Likely not enough to cause discomfort, but it can take some getting used to.

    Note: I have heard that the Utopia may have similar punch, but it's out of my price range. Even used it's more than I'd like to spend.
     
  20. Don Miller

    Don Miller Banned from FS; never sell me anything

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    Thanks for some more impressions of these. How about that headphone any issues with creaking? Bumps in the night?
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2020

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